[.ca] Cats For Dummies: The Purr-fect Companion For Cat Lovers (ISBN 0762413603)

From Amazon.com:
Gina Spadafori, Universal Press Syndicate pet care columnist and host of AOL's "Gina Spadafori's Pet Connection," follows her educational and entertaining book Dogs for Dummies with Cats for Dummies, which she co-authors with Paul Pion, D.V.M., D.A.C.V.I.M., president of the Veterinary Information Network. If you own a cat or are considering cat ownership, Cats for Dummies is the one book you really must have. This educational, comprehensive, and entertaining book is probably the closest you'll get to a cat "owners' manual." Beginning with a foreword by Lilian Jackson Braun, the cat-owned author of The Cat Who... mystery novels, the book quickly moves into a brief history of cats, cat psychology, and their recent amazing growth in popularity. Spadafori and Pion spend a considerable amount of time on the selection of a cat breed. While size and in-bred behaviors don't vary in cats as much as they do in dogs, different breeds of cats do have distinctive traits and temperaments that should be considered when deciding on a purebred animal. Physical characteristics, such as coat type, should also be considered. Some cats require a great deal more grooming than others do. The authors are frank in their discussion of the fate of poorly chosen cats who wind up in shelters because they were too much work and not right for the person who had selected them. For readers considering a purebred cat, Spadafori and Pion provide tips and resources, including magazines, Web sites and Cat Fanciers Association breed clubs. They also give information on screening breeders to weed out the "truly evil" and the simply ignorant. They strongly encourage adoption of shelter cats, though, pointing out that many of these animals are young, healthy, and affectionate and may have been given up through no fault of their own. Adult shelter cats, Spadafori says, can be a particularly good choice, especially for an older person, since they are past their kitten craziness. Because the adoption rates for adult cats are lower than for kittens, thousands of wonderful animals who would make great pets are euthanized each year. Spadafori recommends proceeding with caution when shopping pet stores for kittens due to the high percentage of pet store kittens that come from kitten mills where animals are bred indiscriminately and often kept in horrifying conditions. And while some pet stores offer space to sell "oops" litters, she believes the practice, while well-intentioned, sends the message that kittens are easy to place and encourages cat owners to continue allowing their pets to breed. Once the breed or type of cat has been selected, Cat for Dummies moves on to cover aspects of cat ownership, including kitten-proofing your house, bringing home a new cat or kitten, care, feeding and grooming, and veterinary care. The chapter on medical care and common illnesses is particularly strong, spending much more time on the subject than in Dogs for Dummies, due, most likely, to the fact that the co-author is a veterinarian. This section provides important information without excruciating clinical detail that might lose the reader and is a great addition to the book. As in Dogs for Dummies, Spadafori includes the entertaining "Part of Tens" section in which she debunks 10 common cat myths, offers 10 things the cat owner needs to do to be prepared for a disaster, suggests 10 sets of questions to ask when choosing a kitten, lists 10 household dangers to cats, and provides 10 cat-related sites on the World Wide Web. Also included is "Ten of the best things ever said about cats." This book is highly recommended for anyone who is owned by a cat or aspires to be.

Well deserving of Praise:
This kitty reference book really hits the spot. Explains the basics of how to choose a kitty, how to get it home, what to do with it what you've got it home. How to introduce it to family members, small and large, and other pets, also small and large. Well-versed in the pitfalls of kitty care. How to avoid fleas, how to get rid of them. How to spot them. Why never to touch a tick. What foods and litters to choose. Where to put them. Why some cats can't drink water out of plastic bowls!!! (Who knew?) Where to get ID tags for your little Gremlin. (Very helpful.) The minutiae of bathing kitty. Which kitties need more grooming and bathing. But there's also more interesting stuff, like how many fur coats different cats have. (Most have four, but some only have two or three.) What the different fur coats are for. The Latin name of those cute little whiskers. What they're for. How many they have. And why your overweight baby might get stuck in a hole. (Hint: vibrissae don't grow with added poundage.) This book was obviously written by feline lovers for those who are infatuated and smitten with cats and kittens. It's fun reading in itself, and will obviously be extremely useful for answering yet unthought of questions.

WARNING!:
This is a "miniature series" book. Amazon does not specify this clearly. Do not order this and think you are getting a full size book.

Have a Cat? Want a Cat? Get This Book.:
I had the huge pleasure of living with two wonderful cats. With them, I mainly figured things out by trial and error. One of them lived to be 17, so things went pretty well all told. After he passed away and I spent time mourning him, I decided it was time to adopt two new cats. This time, I did the wise thing and tried to educate myself better about cats and cat care before adopting. In fact, since my last two cats came to me as strays, I'd never actually formally adopted a cat from a shelter, breeder, or the like and was looking for guidance on the process itself. Having found other "for Dummies" books to be very useful, this was the first book I turned to, and so far it's been extremely helpful, both as a guide and as a convenient reference. One of my cats is three months old (my first kitten), and one is a year old, so they both have different needs, and this book covers those needs in a fun, intelligent way. The tone is light, but the information is serious and detailed, with tons of useful advice on adopting, training, feeding, grooming, playing with, and otherwise caring for you cat. Many cat books are written by self-proclaimed experts, so it's nice to see that this one was co-written by a licensed veterinarian with very impressive credentials. My only complaint about the book so far is really a minor one: it would have been nice to have more full-color photos. As with any topic, this shouldn't be your only reference book, but it should certainly be one of your first cat references.

The best cat reference book:
I just received this book yesturday and i've already read half of it. Cats for dummies, 2nd ed., has helped me in choosing a cat companion and has many tips on health care, litter box problems, breeding, and more. If you have a cat or are considering a cat this is the book for you.

Cats for Newbies:
I hated cats. I really really hated cats. Mostly because I am allergic to them, but I generally hated them. Last Christmas we got a cat and then I was forced to deal with the fact I am now a cat owner. What do I do when forced into a situation I know nothing about? I buy a "....for Dummies" book on the subject. Enter Cats For Dummies. I now consider myself somewhat of an expert on cat behavior because of this book. You learn everything you need to know about cats from this book. Our cat is different than any other cat out there, but no matter what the issue with our cat I can find something about it in this book. A must have for the new cat owner and a good reference guide for the experienced.